Drillers Fall to Lopez, Naturals

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals opened a four-game series at ONEOK Field Thursday night with scorching-hot bats. The Naturals offense was clicking on all cylinders, as they routed the Tulsa Drillers 17-3 in a game that featured Nicky Lopez hitting for the cycle in order for Northwest Arkansas.
The Drillers struck first in the bottom of the second. Will Smith led the inning off with a mammoth home run to center field that struck the middle of the batter's eye. The homer registered 110 MPH off the bat and went 430 feet.
Things did not go well for Drillers starting pitcher Logan Bawcom over the next few innings. With one out and runners on second and third in the top of the third, a ground ball was hit to Errol Robinson that was thrown home in an attempt to get the lead runner. But the ball got past catcher Keibert Ruiz, allowing two runs to score.
Kort Peterson started the top of the fourth with a leadoff walk, and ended up at third after a stolen base and an errant throw by Ruiz. Peterson scored on a wild pitch, then the Naturals delivered a single, a triple and a double to extend the lead to 6-1.
The top of the fifth did not go much better for Tulsa. After a leadoff single, back-to-back home runs by Anderson Miller and Nick Dini pushed the lead to 9-1.
Three more home runs were hit by Northwest Arkansas in the sixth that resulted in six more runs. Lopez hit a solo-shot, Peterson hit a two-run homer and Dini capped the inning with a three-run shot to further extend the lead to 15-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Jacob Scavuzzo doubled off the left field wall to bring home a pair of runs. The Naturals answered an inning later with two more runs, swelling the lead to 17-3. The score did not change for the remainder of the game, and the Drillers were defeated by the Naturals.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Smith and Yusniel Díaz each had a pair of hits, and were responsible for four of the six Drillers hits.
Lopez's sixth inning home run completed his natural cycle. It is referred to as a natural cycle when the hitter accomplishes the feat in order. Lopez singled in the first inning, doubled in the third, tripled in the fourth and capped his big night with a home run in the sixth. He singled again in the seventh before the Drillers finally retired him in the ninth. He finished 5-6 with two RBI and four runs scored.
The Dodgers made a couple of roster moves before the game that affected the Drillers. Connor Joe got promoted to Oklahoma City, and Tyler Goeddel was activated off the disabled list.
After Joe was promoted to Triple-A, it was announced that Luke Raley will take his place in the Texas League All-Star Game on Tuesday. Devin Smeltzer was also named as a replacement for Jake Newberry of Northwest Arkansas. Newberry was promoted to Triple-A Omaha by the Kansas City Royals.
The 17 runs and the 5 home runs were both the most given up by Drillers pitching in a game this season.
Infielder Randy César of the Corpus Christi Hooks made Texas League history on Thursday night by extending his hitting streak to 38 straight games. It is now the longest streak ever recorded in the TL, breaking the record was previously set by El Paso's Bobby Trevino in 1969.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will take on the Naturals again in the second game of the series on Friday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM, and the probable starters will be:
NWA     Foster Griffin (3-7, 5.71 ERA)
TUL        Mitchell White (0-3, 5.97 ERA)